Marine Species Hybridization

Episode Hosts: Melissa Chromik, Anna Dondero, Malea McGimsey

Course Coordinators & Podcast Ringmasters: Colleen Duncan, Anna Fagre, Molly Carpenter, Treana Mayer

Audio Engineer: Ethan Fagre

Episode details:

On this episode of VetCAST, we discuss marine hybrids, ranging from teeny tiny living coral reefs to the largest animal to have ever lived, the blue whale. We interview Dr. Brendan Kelly to find out a little bit about how hybridization occurs, the ways climate change may be expediting this phenomenon, and what we can do to help.

• Interview: Dr. Brendan Kelly, PhD. Dr. Kelly is the Executive Director of the Study of Environmental Arctic Change and a professor of marine biology with the University of Alaska. Dr. Kelly holds a PhD from Purdue University, a Master of Science degree from University of Alaska, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, all in biology. Please visit www.searcharcticscience.org to learn more about his work with SEARCH.
• Quilodrán, C. S., Montoya-Burgos, J. I., & Currat, M. (2020). Harmonizing hybridization dissonance in conservation. Communications biology, 3(1), 391. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-1116-9
• Chan, W. Y., Hoffmann, A. A. & van Oppen, M. J. Hybridization as a conservation management tool. Conserv. Lett. 12 , e12652 (2019).
• Fogarty, N. D. Caribbean acroporid coral hybrids are viable across life history stages. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 446, 145-159 (2012).
• Arantes, L.S., Ferreira, L.C.L., Driller, M. et al. Genomic evidence of recent hybridization between sea turtles at Abrolhos Archipelago and its association to low reproductive output. Sci Rep 10, 12847 (2020).
• Pampoulie, C, Gíslason, D, Ólafsdóttir, G, et al. Evidence of unidirectional hybridization and second‐generation adult hybrid between the two largest animals on Earth, the fin and blue whales. Evol Appl. 2020; 00: 1– 8. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13091